Thursday, August 22, 2013

I've put up some of the weird/stupid/random questions I've seen on surveys in the past. Apparently these aren't limited to North America.

A reader from the other side of the planet (Australia) sent this excerpt from one he recently took:

It's the 4th item down that grabs my attention.

Let's face it: everyone has their own degree of what is and isn't comfortable. But if I've reached a point in my life where I'm having an autopsy, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to care one way or the other.

"they need to be "whole" to get into heaven"So can anyone tell me: do these groups request their appendices, tonsils, uterii etc are returned to them after surgery? It was something I wondered when the fuss cropped up in the UK about children and organs being retained at autopsy. Unless they do, they are being very hypocritical.

Yes, patients with these religious restrictions do request any removed body parts or organs be returned to them after surgeries or tests so that they can be buried with them when they die. In the hospital system where my husband works, this request is granted as best as possible.

Get over being uncomfortable about providing medical data and or sampling for testing. It is false modesty-to be "uncomfortable" about supplying information or test samples. My life was changed because I was willing to get over being uncomfortable to supply the sample, and get the cure.

actually, DNA information taken from your dead body can provide information on your relatives, especially kids. that seems potentially problematic to me, as we have next to no legislation on genetic information use.

I remember a case about amputation - a diabetic who had both lower legs amputated wanted to keep them to be buried with him. The hospital froze them temporarily, but wanted to incinerate them for their own H&S requirements. I think in the end the hospital handed them over and the guy kept them in his home freezer for the rest of his life. It's a big deal to some people.

wait? What! Why do people some people "need" to get over their beliefs? Wholeness might not be an important western concept but it is not an outrageous practice. Some of us care more about our cyber selves than our physical selves and feel rather proud of it. We can justify the morality/ social benefit of stealing physical bits (Henrietta Lacks) but go medieval over data leaks. Let them keep their bits the way you want to keep your bytes.

oh, I'll donate organs, but I darn well expect full informed consent on ANYTHING else done. I am a scientist and a geneticist, so I know exactly how much information my body (dead or alive) can provide, and that tissues can involve much profit. If I'm dead, that is for my next of kin to decide I suppose, though I have my own opinion. Namely, scientific research is fine, but not for financial gain (I want my cut thanks)

Go back to HeLa cells - the original may have had very strong beliefs in that others benefit to not have the same condition or may not have wanted the cells touched that were taken without her knowledge. Now her family has gone through a lot of angst, not knowing her desires as a primary concern.

Welcome to my whining!

This blog is entirely for entertainment purposes. All posts about patients may be fictional, or be my experience, or were submitted by a reader, or any combination of the above. Factual statements may or may not be accurate.

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